


Have I met you 20 seconds or 20 years?

by prettyinblue



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Comedian Richie Tozier, Fix-it fic, M/M, Reddie, adult reddie, they all live because i said so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2020-12-14 03:33:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21009032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettyinblue/pseuds/prettyinblue
Summary: Richie and Eddie met in their 30s at work and fall in love without realizing they already knew (and loved) each other more than 20 years ago.





	1. New York 2016

**Author's Note:**

> I believe that these two had so many strong feelings about each other that they would fall in love again and again. No matter when and where.

It was Eddie's birthday the day he decided to actually live his life. No more lies, no more pretending, no more Myra.   
He realized he was gay about three years ago. Well, he thought that.   
That morning he woke up next to Myra knowing it would be the last time. He had been promoted the day before and he took it as a sign.  
On breakfast, he told her they had to talk but she refused to do it until after his birthday dinner.   
"I had to do this now or else I'll never do it"  
And so he did.   
Instead of a fancy dinner party, he hung out with some friends. And the very next day he packed his things and left to New York. No looking back now.

His first work at the company was to promote a stand up special for some comedian he didn't actually like. He thought his jokes were a bit childish but he had something, he couldn't explain. 

The first meeting with the comedian went pretty good actually.   
His name was Richie Tozier. He and his manager arrived at their meeting and when they were introduced to each other Eddie immediately felt something. And the comedian felt it too. Like something just clicked when they met.  
Of course Eddie didn't know Richie felt the same and also he didn't know whether this comedian liked guys or not. 

Richie was confused. After the meeting, he decided to go for a walk to clear his thoughts. He always liked girls, so why did he felt so strangely attracted to this man he just met? Like they already knew each other? It was a lot to comprehend and he needed a way out. Since as long as he could remember, writing and making jokes worked better than therapy for him so he arrived home and started to write. He spent the entire night going around his thoughts and decided to explore a little bit more to understand this extremely strong feelings he suddenly had for, what was his name? Edward something, the last name was a blur. He will think on a nickname soon.

Meeting after meeting Eddie's crush and Richie's confusion grew. They got along really well and also they argued a lot which drove everyone to talk about their sudden friendship.  
Richie started to invite his new friend to lunch after the meetings. They enjoyed each other’s company a lot more than they were willing to admit. They talked about a lot of stuff, Eds (Richie started to call him like this, ignoring Eddie’s complaints) even told him about his marriage and why he left his previous town. The comedian realized his friend was really lonely “He moved here alone, every night he arrives at a lonely home and has no one to sleep with and...” No Richie stop it, don’t ruin this friendship. He felt like it was a deja vu but how? This was a completely new situation.

The night of the stand up special came. Richie had it all planned, he would come out as bi. He decided it one night after talking with his manager about his situation. Contrary to popular belief, the comedian was kind of a loner. The closest to a best friend was his manager. He would prefer staying at his apartment to watch a movie than to go out to some celebrity’s party. Despite his job consisting of performing in front of a lot of people, he had trouble to actually talk to them. But when he is on the stage he is another person, no Richie Tozier the lonely 30 something guy, he was Richie Tozier the famous comedian.

He had previously arranged a meeting with the whole team to let them know his decision and everyone was ok with it. Also, for him, it was the first big step. Letting people know that he would do it so he wasn’t able to cancel it at last minute. Eddie wasn’t invited to that meeting. Richie wanted to surprise his friend and maybe do something else. Time would tell.

Ten minutes to go and he was extremely anxious. His manager tried to calm him down and the Eddie appeared.   
“Hey don’t fuck this up, Richie.” His smile disappeared when he saw how nervous his friend was. “I’m sure you’ll do great”  
“What if I don’t Eds? This will be recorded, in a few months the whole world will see how bad I fuck this up. I-I can’t do it I’m gonna puke.”   
“Wait wait stop with this nonsense. Look at me Richie” They looked at each other in the eyes. Oh, great! thanks Eds now he was more nervous. “You’re amazing at what you do. Did you know that I didn’t like you before this job? When I got to meet the real you I found out that you were actually a pretty cool guy. You can do this, just go and be yourself, that’ll be enough”  
Richie didn’t know what to do soy he hugged his friend and said thanks.   
“I’ll go to my seat now, okay? And I hope you make me laugh, idiot.”

A little calmer, the comedian got ready to go to the stage. He was presented and the theatre went wild when he appeared. “You can do this, you can do this.” He repeated in his mind what Eddie said a bit earlier, to keep his courage and not run from there.

He was 30 minutes in and everyone was laughing out loud, even Eddie who six months back though Richie wasn’t good. But he understood him now, he was a real person. Also, he enjoyed watching him doing what makes him happy. “That crush won’t go away anytime soon if you keep seeing him every day” he thought as his friend drank water, preparing for the next bit. The toughest in his career.   
When most of the audience finally stopped laughing at one of his drunk anecdotes, he took a deep breath, smiled at Eddie who smiled back at him and started.

“You know, I’m a very lonely person. And if you didn’t know that let me tell you that my manager is my best friend” Some laughs, it’s okay Richie. “Yeah, I-I’m not good at relationships. I always felt like something was a little bit off. You know that feeling? I would tell myself: okay let’s not go there. As many of you may be telling yourselves. Please don’t break up with your partner in my show, I need good reviews and no one wants to see a comedian who induced them to a midlife crisis.” More laughs, here we go.  
”And here I am about to turn forty, forty! Can you believe? By this age, my father was married, had me, a house, you know, the whole thing. I constantly find myself wondering what went wrong with me.” A pause, some nervous laughs. “It’s okay, you can laugh at my life, I make a living out of that. Thank god I’m so fucked up” The audience went wild. Eddie was the only one not laughing mostly because he was worried about his friend and also because he knew this act by memory and this was not part of it.

“I tried it all: dating apps, blind dates, but nothing. After one date going incredibly wrong, I will not go into details but let’s say that I will never go camping again with someone I met only for a week.” They laughed. “Yeah, after that you say hey maybe it’s me.”  
C’mon, you can do it.  
“Then something really weird happened, I met someone” He laughed at the “Aww” from the audience. “Yes! Richie Tozier met someone! that means no more crisis right? Well nope. I had a big crush. For moments I forgot that I was a 30 something idiot and acted like a middle schooler who falls in love for the first time. But there was a problem because there is always a problem right?” There were laughs when he said “right” looking at the ceiling.  
“The problem was, was” He felt like he couldn’t breathe. “Sorry, um, the problem was that it was a fucking guy. And I mean-” he was interrupted by people cheering. “Thanks! You paid to be my therapists, what a great night. So, yeah, there’s nothing wrong with liking guys. But this is so much more than a crush. The second I met this idiot I felt like every piece of my puzzle was complete. Like I knew him already. Sometimes I feel like I’m having a deja vu when I argue with the stupidest things with him.”  
Eddie was feeling every emotion possible at this moment. A little bit of hope, anxiety, doubt, everything. He looked for Richie’s eyes but the comedian avoided his direction.  
“Look I don’t believe in soulmates and all that crap or maybe I didn’t use to. And I find myself wondering how can I like this bitch? He wears a fucking fanny pack sometimes! For fuck’s sake. Like, what? How old are you?” Uncontrollable laughs from everyone but the fanny pack guy. Who felt like this was a dream. Did the guy he had a crush on just admitted he liked him in front of all these people?  
“You want to know something else? He doesn’t know. Well, now he knows.” He laughed nervously along with the audience. “Maybe I fucked everything up but at least you watched live!” More laughs. It’s okay. “So yeah everybody, I’m bi and if this fanny pack guy hates me please someone date me. I think that when I get out of here I will move to another continent.” He drank some water and felt pleased about how it went as everyone applauded him.  
“Moving. Did you hear that moving is one of the most stressful things humans experience? I believe that shit. I still wake up from nightmares about that time…”

Richie continued his show normally and got a standing ovation at the end. As soon as he said goodbye Eddie ran to find him.   
He ran so fast for a moment his hand went to his jacket’s pocket looking for an inhaler that was not there. That hadn’t been for a lot of years.  
The comedian went backstage and was received by the team with flowers and a lot of congratulations. He felt genuinely happy, like never before. Everyone was hugging him and saying that it was “the best stand up they produced” or that “his coming out will help a lot of people” and someone who said to be prepared to blow up in the next few weeks.   
Then Eddie appeared and suddenly Richie had his eyes only for him. They smiled at each other and when the rest saw that they started to leave “See you at the party”.  
“Party?” He asked as everyone was leaving.  
“It was supposed to be a surprise.” Eddie answered looking like he was about to murder that poor guy. “Me and your manager planned a party to celebrate your show. Pretty good by the way... and interesting.”  
Nervous laughs from both of them.   
“Yeah? What was your favourite part?”  
“I don’t know. But the worst was when this fucking comedian told everyone that I wear fanny packs.” Eddie laughed and came a little bit closer to Richie. “Did you mean it? Do you really like me or it was just a story to make people laugh?”  
“Well you know, a little bit of this, a little bit of that.” He smiled until he saw Eddie’s face completely change. “I’m joking Eds! I never said something more real than that. I really like you, since the moment I met you. I feel like we were meant to be together and sorry to expose you like that but I find trouble expressing myself when I’m not joking. When I'm on the stage I’m another person, a braver one and-”   
Eddie interrupted him with a kiss.   
“Well, now that’s a surprise. So do you like me or…”  
“You have no idea how much I’ve wanted to kiss you, idiot. Of course I like you but please don’t call me a bitch on stage anymore”.   
They laughed and called an Uber to go to the party.

On their way to celebrate Richie checked his phone and his hundreds of notifications. A lot of congratulations, “I’m so proud of you”, “Hope the fanny pack guys likes you back!” and more under his most recent Instagram post.  
That night felt like a dream. The part went great and then Eddie stayed the night at his apartment. They were tired to do anything besides talking so they talked until they both fell asleep on the sofa.  
Everything was perfect.   
Until the phone woke them up at 10 in the morning. Richie looked for his glasses to see who was calling. He felt a strong pain on his left hand as he read “Derry” on his phone.


	2. Derry 2016

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A call from Derry changes everything. Now they have to go back to the town they forgot and put together the pieces from their broken memories. And also defeat a clown, let's not talk about that.

"Where the fuck is Derry?" Richie asked Eddie.  
"Derry? I-I don't know but-" He stopped talking because his right hand felt like it was being cut. To Richie's worried look he said "It's okay, I'm okay. Answer the damn phone, it must be important. I will make breakfast or something" And so he made his way to the kitchen to look for something to eat.  
Richie saw him leave as he answered the call.  
"Hello?"  
"Richie?" An unknown man was on the other line. "Is that you? Richie Tozier?"  
"Um, who is this?"  
"It's Mike. Do you remember? Mike Hanlon from Derry" He almost dropped his phone. "I know it must be a lot to digest now but this is important. Do you remember the promise we made? About… the clown. It's back"  
A lot of memories were coming back to his mind. Derry, Derry, Derry. The clown, the deaths, the promise. His friends. Mike? Who else? How could he have forgotten them? He felt so much love for these people.  
"Richie? Can you hear me?"  
"Yes, yes. M-Mike, I-"  
"I know it's a lot but you made a promise remember? If It returned we would come back to kill it for good"  
"And it's back?"  
"Yes. Look I already called Bill and Stan. They will come tomorrow, are you coming right?  
"Bill, Stan…" He couldn't remember their faces but he felt safe hearing those names. "Oh my god, Mikey? I remember you"  
"I'm glad, Richie. I'll be expecting you. I gotta go, I have to call Ben, Bev and Eddie. See you man"  
"Eddie?"  
"What happened, idiot?" Eddie appeared with some cookies and gave one to Richie who was speechless and staring at him. "What's the matter? Who called?  
"Eds. It's you" He said as he stood up and hugged him very tight.  
"Yeah, it's me. Richie? What's wrong?" he was genuinely concerned at his friend-now-maybe-boyfriend's weird behaviour.  
"It's really you Eds. I'm so happy" the comedian almost started to cry but went running to the bathroom to puke.  
In that exact moment, Eddie got a phone call from Derry.

It had been 10 minutes since Mike's calls and now Richie stopped puking and Eddie was finally able to breathe normally.  
"How could we forget each other? Our friends? Years of our lives? And that fucking clown"  
"I don't know Eds. This is fucked up".  
They spent the rest of the day remembering, collecting the pieces of memories they had. Some flashes of the barrens, the clubhouse, the school, even some names.  
"So I knew I liked guys when I was about 13 because I had this massive crush on you and I had the SAME crisis almost 30 years later because I forgot?" Eddie didn't know if Richie was about to have a breakdown or was trying to be funny. Maybe both.  
"You think you are bad? I was fucking married to a woman because I FORGOT I WAS GAY"  
They laughed for a while and decided to travel in the first flight available. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to go back to that town, even worse, to fight this monster they barely remembered. But they wanted to go back where they first met and fell in love. And also they wouldn't miss a Losers' reunion for the world.  
They were still shocked but they decided to concentrate on good things. They were together after all, and soon they would meet with their friends. During the flight, they remembered much more things. Almost everything triggered a flashback. Most of them good but some were pretty disturbing and made them nervous to come back there. 

Despite the fact that they were reunited because of such horrible reasons and all of them were remembering their pre-teen traumas, they had a great time.  
All of them. Richie, Eddie, Bill, Bev, Ben, Mike and Stan.  
As soon as the seven of them were sitting on that restaurant table everything was complete again. It was odd, as if they hadn’t aged a day and if they had seen each other every day for the last decades.  
They admitted that no one was surprised when they saw #CongratsRichie trending the other night.  
"I didn't know it was you, trashmouth, but when I saw you came out I thought you had already done that" Said Bill.  
"Well, actually he was out. At least for us. But you don't remember that right Richie?" Mike asked his friend who struggled to remember.  
"No, no I don't"  
"Don't worry, everything will come back."  
"I don't know if I want to remember everything" Stan told the group. "But please tell me that you and Eddie are dating again."  
"Again?" Everyone but Mike asked shocked. Eddie and Richie looked at each other confused.  
"Yeah, again. One of the first things I remembered when Mike called was some annoying kid talking to me about his crush. Then when I saw you two arrive and behave like kids I recalled that when you started dating you were the most annoying couple ever" Stan sounded angry but actually he was smiling. Richie remembered that smile, his best friend's smile. The one he made when he was kind of angry but couldn't resist to laugh. Oh how much he had missed him.  
Then Eddie proceeded to tell them the story of how he and Richie met months ago and started to date literally two days ago. Everyone was really happy for them. Ben and Bev laughed and he caught his friend staring at the redhead when she wasn't looking. Then another memory came back. "I hope they get their happy ending too" he thought.

Things didn't get very nice from there. But they were together and as long as they remained that way, everything would turn out okay.  
Although Mike asked them to separate for a few hours. They all had to make their way through the town to trigger memories and to get a token. None of them agreed at first but eventually all started to walk down memory lane.  
It was hard for everyone to look back at such horrendous events. Some of then realized that some things still haunted them to this day, even if they didn't remember.  
Richie was glad he could overcome the internalised homophobia he had as a teenager before he could remember it in the first place.  
Eddie was also relieved to have been honest with himself before arriving at Derry.  
Without much of that teenage trauma for them, it wasn't as difficult as it could have been.  
Of course they were scared because who wouldn't? Even the toughest person would be afraid of this demonic clown chasing them around. 

In the end, after the most frightful 24 hours of their lives, they defeated the clown for good and they were finally free. Eddie and Mike got injured but it was nothing that a few days in the hospital wouldn't solve. 

All of the Losers stayed in Derry until their friends got out of the hospital. They had to celebrate like the old times and also none of them wanted to be alone. They could be adults now but they were scared.  
At this point, all their memories came back. The good ones, the bad ones, everything. They remembered how much they loved each other and how important every one of them were in their lives.  
Those days gave them time to think and for a lot of them, to reorganize their lives. It was time to make peace with the past and let it go. Nothing was holding them back now.  
They had a movie night like they used to when they were teenagers living in the town. For a moment Bill closed his eyes and he felt like he was 13 again. He got sad thinking about Georgie but finally found peace knowing his little brother got justice.  
Stan, Ben and Bev were the first one to leave the next day. Stan made them promise to stay in touch and to see each other again soon.  
Ben and Bev left together. No one knew the details but they couldn't stop smiling and after saying goodbye they left Mike's house holding hands.  
Now that the clown was not going to torment Derry again, Mike was eager to leave the town for good. Bill offered his friend to go with him to Los Angeles. Which Mike accepted immediately because he was always amazed by big cities.  
After hugging their friends Richie asked Eddie if he wanted to go for a walk give the fact that this would be the last time they would be in this town. Eddie accepted and they wandered through the neighbourhood they used to live until they came across the infamous kissing bridge. Richie told him how much he loved him then and how much he loves him now and that he was happy they finally got together.  
Eddie kissed him and said "I used to love you so much too. I'll always love you and no matter what happens, no matter how many times we forget each other. And I hope we don't, but you never know. No matter when or where you'll always be the one I love the most."  
They made their way out of the town. The place that used to be their home. Now they were each other's home.  
After all these years they felt complete. All the pieces of the puzzle were together now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In my mind, they are all alive and well. I really hope you liked it. Thanks for reading!


End file.
